2020 is, or rather, was a wild year for blatant reasons. However, with each grey sky comes a silver lining. This year saw a huge growth in the number of gamers, reaching 2.7 billion worldwide. 2020 introduced 200 million more gamers into the scene! Additionally, spending on gaming is estimated to have reach 160 billion USD, which is around a 10% increase from 2019. But we aren’t here for numbers, we’re here to talk about some of best Steam games we played in 2020.
Steam Games We Enjoyed in the Uncertainty of 2020
The games on this list aren’t necessarily games that released this year, but rather games that managed to provide joy and entertainment despite their age and well… everything, really. You can get any of the games below with Steam Wallet from SEAGM!
1. Muse Dash
This artistic take on a rhythm game came out last year, and is a fun arcade-y experience for gamers to enjoy. While it does have less buttons than your average rhythm game, it still provides a fun challenge for rhythm game casuals and veterans alike. It does what a lot of other rhythm games don’t really do, which is letting the player enjoy the visuals on-screen. A lot of players may prefer to dim the music video backgrounds of Hatsune Miku, but you won’t find yourself doing that here. Muse Dash makes is so the gameplay corelates with the visuals, as if you’re playing a hectic action game.
Muse Dash isn’t just good because it appeals to hardcore rhythm game enthusiasts, but because it also manages to make this fun button-timing simulator, well, a game.
With catchy tunes, vibrant visuals, cute characters with a dash of lewd thrown into the mix, Muse Dash has done well to keep us engaged during our indoor idle-ity.
2. Divinity Original Sin 2
This game came out in 2017, but attracted new audiences with its attractive on sale prices. Oh and not to mention, it’s a fantastically fun game.
The isometric top-view RPG first came out in 2017, and was given the definitive edition treatment later on. It also released on consoles, and despite its isometric perspective gameplay, was still mechanically grounded in terms of controls and highly rated.
There is high praise for Divinity Original Sin 2 due to its flexible gameplay. However, what really keeps audiences hooked is in its strong, powerful narrative and extensive lore. You can create characters of any race and origin, which determines how you are treated in the world. Consequences befall your every action, and some of them could be the doom or prosperity of you. Prepare yourself to sink into 80 hours of discriminatory gameplay; you might even forget about the life you had before the pandemic.
3. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
I know what you’re thinking, what about Breakpoint? Well the simple answer is that there is still plenty of fun to be had with Wildlands. Eight months after purchasing the game, I can still go back to the post-game content either alone or with friends.
Ghost Recon Wildlands requires deep-strategy in order to come out of the firefight alive. With high permadeath stakes, and intelligent enemies amplifying those stakes, Wildlands is a challenging chess match where you set the position of your pieces before making the first move.
Things get challenging after 10-15 hours, when you reach level 30. The game’s enemy AI becomes exceptionally difficult to elude and every step you make will have to be calculated. Farm new gear to make your takeovers smoother and come up with sidewinding strategies with your AI or Human partners to overcome the Wildlands.
4. Hades
This Game of the Year title gained mass attention since its Day 0 alpha build. It polishes, if not perfects, the roguelike formula in addition to having an excellent cast of characters with strong narrative.
The game is recipient to multiple Game of the Year awards from several publications and for good reason, too. We like it so much, that we’re begging you to move this from your Steam Games Wish List 2020 to your Checkout Cart 2021.
Much love to Supergiant!
*pst, we know we’re titling this article for “Steam games”, but let me just say that this game is PERFECT on the Switch :))
5. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Considering EA’s continuous string of gaming fiascos preceding the release of Fallen Order, we could not be more happy with the game’s release. This Star Wars entry brought so many things to the table; vast world exploration, interesting character development, and intense combat.
The game may adapt a soulsborne formula, however it includes a difficulty option making it accessible for a wider range of audiences. The pacing of the game is fantastic and smooth, mixing intense combat, solid cutscenes, light puzzle solving, and engaging drama to make for a worthy GOTY nominee.
6. Overcooked 2
Make no mistake! Overcooked and their adorable chefs looks like the perfect family game, but it’s actually the number one cause of divorce. This innocent looking cooking game plays as if Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen was a video game. You’re constantly under pressure from an overwhelming amount of orders, plates that need cleaning are stacking up, and for some reason that corner of the kitchen is on fire.
Also people have died here
Overcooked 2 features complicated level designs that are easy to understand but difficult to maneuver. For example, there’s one level where you cook on opposite ends of a sidewalk. You have to cross a busy street to get your order ingredients to important stations while avoiding whizzing vehicles. There’s also a level where you need to cook on two detachable rafts in a flowing river. Different stations like the oven and the cutting board will constantly switch positions and become inaccessible due to currents, making timing and positioning crucial.
Overcooked 2 is very near impossible to play alone as it’s strictly designed to be played with a team. You can have up to four cooks which eases the workload, but synchronizing yourselves will also become a formidable challenge.
Past all the yelling, blaming, and defeated moaning, it’s a very cute and fun game to learn and play with friends.
7. Little Nightmares
With its sequel coming in just next month, revisiting Little Nightmares offered me little (heh) but still provided a fun time. A take on horror with an original, unconventional art style still provided chilling thrills and spooks. The puzzle solving isn’t too hard nor too direct that it feels braindead.
The game doesn’t do much to guide you through the game. Instead, the levels are designed so well that you shouldn’t be stuck in one place for too long. Boss fights are intuitive and requires just a bit of brain-teasing. Factor this in with the constant fear of what lurks, Little Nightmares does well to provide you a thrilling horror experience.
8. Bright Memory
Considering it’s in early access, there’s not an awful lot we can say about this game. What we can say, however, is that Episode One is a good dose of fun. It features high-octane gun fights, swift sword slashing and teleportation.
How does all that blend in together to make for one of the most action-packed tech demos of 2020? I don’t know, but it just works.
At the moment there is really just a bit too little content, however Bright Memory‘s gameplay allows you to stretch that bit of content just a bit longer than face value. Similar to games such as DMC and Bayonetta, Bright Memory‘s charm lies within its combat and combo-building. There’s plenty to learn and limitless combo potential, and you’ll have a whale of a time experimenting.
9. Horizon Zero Dawn
Originally exclusively out on PlayStation 4, this spectacular rerelease on Steam saw intense visual upgrades. On a beast PC it can run at 4k native resolution at a crisp 60+ fps. When you have gorgeous mechanical dinosaurs among other beasts to take down in machine-mutilated nature, trust me, you’ll appreciate the beauty of sharp resolution and crisp framerates that much more.
In addition to brilliant sci-fi lore, exploring hidden ruins, variative beautiful enemy design, Horizon Zero Dawn is a fun RPG to actually play. It has a intuitive and quick on-the-fly crafting system to accommodate its fast and intense combat. In a game where almost every mechanicalized nature-inspired beast is either lunging a projectile (or itself) at you, this is a really neat feature to incorporate.
And that’s the list of Steam games we enjoyed in 2020. What are your personal faves? Sound off in the comments below and stay tuned to SEAGM News for more of the top gaming lists. Remember that you can get cheap Steam Wallet for any region at SEAGM!
